Cruise Control...

Hey,

So just got done with a bit of a drive in the taco where I used the cruise control for the first time. Is it just my truck or does anyone else notice that after you brake and hit the resume switch that it takes the truck a sec then it floors the hell out of it usually past the set speed point hangs at about 4-5000rpm then finally downshifts? Never had a car where the cruise control was quite so umm aggressive. Btw I wasn't hauling anything nor had any weight in the bed just me and a couple of lighter things in the cab.

 

Both my 04 2.7 liter and now my 07 4.0 have been sticks, so when I hit resume it is a nice gradual acceleration back up to the set speed. That said, I have a 93 honda accord that I use as a back and forth to work car that has an auto trans, and that one will kick down a gear and accelerate hard back up to the set speed. So I kind of lean toward it being an automatic trans thing more than a tacoma thing.

Just my two cents.

 

I have to say mine works practically flawlessly. The only issue when disengaging at the on/off 'switch' it feels like someone shut-off the engine(don't think it's the fault of the cruise, but rather the inherit design of engine braking).During highway cruise speeds, even up steep inclines, there's never more than a fluctuation of a few hundred RPM'S(speed is practically locked). Others have complained of the exact issue's you've described and complained to the dealer about it, and most dealers response: "this is a normal condition". Obviously, some of the cruise programs are more aggressive than others and I would think the dealers would be able to reprogram the cruise software to prevent this exact issue you describe. Also, I've noticed there is less downshifting, slightly lower cruise RPM'S, with 89/91 octane.

 

Hmm thanks flyman yeah I've been experimenting with the entire range of octanes from the cheapo to the premium (put in some 103 octane stuff that was left over from a track meet too) but haven't noticed it really make any differences. When I take it in for my free 5k oil change I'll see if they can't reprogram that. On a side note anyone know if the dealership can program the car to honk if you press the lock button the remote twice? I'm kinda of paranoid and like having that reassurance that the car did in fact lock.

 

This is the 2nd newer generation Toyota I have driven and I hate to say it be GM has a much smoother cruise implementation.

I was driving my 07 taco through some south Kansas hills. Driving manually I simply shifted into 3rd as I was going through the hills and had a pleasant smooth ride. With the cruise engaged, once the hill climb began the cruise would slam the transmission back and forth from drive to 2nd, sometimes very quickly back and forth. I didn't like that at all so I took over acceleration duties.

It does work fine, including resuming on flat level highway though.

 

I went to my dealer the day after I bought my truck and asked but was told it would not honk or make any other noise unless there was an alarm system installed...If anyone knows of anything contrary to this, let me know!

 

Yes, it's true in order for the the dealer to program a 'chirp' for signaling your doors are locked/unlocked requires the factory RS3200 alarm. However, if you really intent on wanting this feature, there is at least one mod that I know of(see link below-schematic included)that will allow for the chirp. It seems like a lot of wiring and I have not personally tried it; if you do ...please let me know.

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=81089&page=2

 

As far as the cruise control is concerned, it may be a Toyota thing....my wife's Sienna does the same thing. If you press resume, the engine floors the
gas and the trans kicks down until you have gone 5 mph past your set speed, then the trans shifts back into the correct gear and the accelerator is backed off. Actually, it's kind of scary that the vehicle accelerates the way it does....almost dangerous. My GTI, when I had it, had great cruise control, if you were in the right gear. It was a 5 speed, and you had to make sure you were in the correct gear, because if you pressed on the clutch to shift, the cruise would disengage.....kind of a pain, probably why most manual transmisson vehicles don't have cruise control....

 

I was curious if anyone else came across this when using the CC in the new auto Tacos. I've found that mine does it and it's kind've annoying, at least since I've been trained by my past two cars (95 Intrepid, 98 Taurus) which both had pretty good cruise implementations. I understand the program can't possibly know when a hill is coming, so generally I was able to help it out by gassing it a little before I hit the hill, and then both cars would be able to up the RPMs until a suitable level was found (if it was running at 2500 for flat highway driving, usually the 3.3L Dodge would up it to 4000 or 4500 depending on the grade, and then level out at the top).

Like someone else said, I've just assumed acceleration duties when it comes to hills in my Taco, cancelling the cruise and re-enabling once I hit the crest.

It scared the bejesus out of me on the second day after I had the truck, I was still getting used to the lower RPMs (my Taurus would level out at about 2,000 RPM once it warmed up after start, generally 3500 or 4000 was the neighborhood it stayed in), and as I hit a hill, the damn thing shuddered back for a second, and then instantly ramped up and roared to about 5100 RPM, only to go back to 2100 once it hit 5 over my set speed limit of 70MPH, and then started to roar back to 5,000 before I could intervene and cancel it.

Not a problem, and I don't consider it necessarily dangerous, just curious if anything.

 

My '10 AT cruise is flawless, as far as I am concerned. I use it daily.

One thing I do is when coming from a stop, I accelerate until about 5 mph below of what had been set and then hit the cruise.


I can see that if you "re-accelerate" using the cruise from a lower speed it may ramp up on the rpms.

 

Mine sucks so bad like this that I don't even use my CC.

 

X2.. i have a '10 and have noticed this.. if i have the cruise set it ranges 1800-2200 rpm.. when it hits a hill it rarely goes over 3000, unless its a long steep hill. i have noticed that if i brake while in CC to disengage it for whatever reason,(lets say were set at 70) and press resume at anything lower than probably 67, its going to downshift to make that speed, when its in CC it will do whatever it takes to make that set speed.

For anyone having trouble, try accelerating back to your set speed, or close to it, and then hit the resume and see if this changes what youre experiencing.

I think its obvious that if youre set at 70 and you have to disengage, and hit resume at 60-65, its going to downshift and rev up. CC is not designed to 'get you to your set speed'. its designed to 'maintain' it.

 

Well, I'm going 70 and then I hit a hill where I start to slow down, and its response is quite a bit different than what I'm used to, is all. Not expecting it to do all of the driving work for me, it's just nice to allow it to maintain a constant speed for long stretches of highway, which I do ten times a week

 

I had to post an update. Seems that the break-in period for Tacos weighs heavily on the performance of the CC system. Since I made that last post, cruise has been far more reliable, and only on significant hills do I have to plan ahead and begin to accelerate a little sooner. It's pretty close to the other CC systems I've used, and has improved in the 2,000 or so miles since (just recently hit 3,000 miles).

 

I've noticed this exact problem since I bought my Tacoma in '05. To put it bluntly, compared to every vehicle I've owned in the past, my Tacoma's CC sucks.

Every summer I take a road trip from Phoenix, AZ to Breckenridge, CO, which gives me plenty of opportunity to use the CC in both flat and mountainous driving. Last year on this trip I measured my mileage and it was lousy, even though I was driving on nothing but highways. I measured my mileage for one complete tank and saw that I was only getting 16 mpg. This was on an interstate in rolling hills, where the overly aggressive CC was constantly kicking the transmission down a gear or two, resulting in high rpm's even on slight inclines.

I decided on the next tank of gas that I'd control the throttle myself and not use the CC at all. The terrain remained the same and I kept the speed at the same level, but when manually controlling the throttle the transmission doesn't downshift half as much as when the CC is on, even when the speed and incline are the same.

And here's the biggest kicker of all - my mileage went up to 18.5 mpg!! Needless to say, I only use CC on level roads now. If there's even a slight incline, manual throttle control it is.

Also, some of you may notice that even 18.5 mpg isn't very good highway mileage for a Tacoma. That's because my truck is lifted with larger wheels/tires, which has cut mileage by 2 mpg. But it was completely stock for the first four years I owned it and exhibited this same behavior.

 

I use mine daily and haven't had any issues with it. I was concerned about it flooring itself when I re-engaged it at the bottom of a hill where I slowed for merging cars to about 60mph and had it set for 70. No issues on the acceleration for me. The hill isn't too steep and it is long and straight. Maybe I resumed CC at a good time or the speed diffs were too close for it to slam the accelerator down. I will try to put it through some more "scenarios" and see what I come up with.

 

The 2006 RAV 4 was very bad about downshifting and racing the engine to pickup 5 MPH or so, especially on an incline. Our 2009 Venza and the 2010 Tacoma are better, but still have room for improvement. The best cruise control I've had with an automatic was on a 2000 F150. If Toyota could get their cruise control to work like that truck, we would all be happier.

 

Used the CC for the first time today in my 4cyl AT 4X4 AC and this scared the s**t out of me! I turned off the CC for the rest of the trip. After reading the other posts, maybe I'll try to train it by pre-accelerating on the hills. Otherwise, I just won't use the CC.

 

I think mine has a sensor in it to tell when it is near the top of a hill, cause it will maintain speed up a hill, and FLOOR it near the top, but only near the top.

Most annoying CC on any vehicle I've owned.